Throwing the file back onto the desk, but it slipped onto the floor. That was when he saw another just like it still on the desk. Opening it, he knew what this one would say. It was a neatly typed resignation letter. She had quit.
Anderson jumped up from his desk and went into the supply room and grabbed a hammer. Rushing back out of the office, he almost ran over Mia as he headed out the door. Both Rafferty and Mia were on his heels when he stopped at her locked door. He tried it one more time, but it was still locked.
With a loud crash, the hammer went through the glass of the door. Carefully, he unlocked the door and went up the stairs to find her. She was there. He knew she was there; he just had to find her.
The three of them made it to the landing. Mia went into the apartment. It looked as it always did; nothing was missing but her purse. Mia went to the bedroom and said she thought all of Ruth’s clothes were there as if she would know.
Anderson turned and went across the hall, but that door was locked as well. She was in there—there was no other place she could be. With a firm kick, the door flew open. He expected to see her sitting behind her desk with headphones on, but he looked around the little apartment, seeing she wasn’t there. In fact, most of her computer system was gone, both computers and a bunch of other stuff.
“What is this?” Mia asked, looking around.
“This is her office. She took the computers. She’s gone this time,” Anderson said.
“Why?” Rafferty asked, looking around the little apartment. His eyes were on the furniture that was there, not the missing computer equipment, the important stuff.
“She was accidentally sent the new rental contract with Rafferty’s name on it. My dad offered me a branch in Grand Forks. I was asking her to come with me. He was offering her a job, also.”
“You are a moron! She’s never going to leave Landstad, she is a tiger!” Mia yelled at him, saying the same thing Rafferty had the night before. What was it about this town?
“I think she would leave. She has nothing here but her mom!” Anderson defended loudly.
“She has everything she has ever wanted here, even if you don’t want any of it,” Mia insisted.
“I thought that love would be enough,” Anderson stated.
“Maybe if you had just talked to her about it.” Rafferty made it sound like he was an expert at relationships.
“I was going to today. Why did they have to send her the contract? One small mistake was all it took.” He shook his head at the mix-up.
“The same reason I come into your office every month, Anderson. The same reason she lives here in this building. Did you even read the contract, Anderson?” Mia kicked at the wall and walked out of the smaller apartment.
Watching her made him wonder what Mia knew that he didn’t. The woman knew everything about this town, but he thought he knew all of Ruth’s secrets.
Rafferty walked around the shabby room. “She left Landstad?”
“She ran away, just like Ruth always does,” Anderson hissed out.
“No, this would be the first time she has ever done that. She’s coming back once you are gone. Tigers come back.” Rafferty walked out of the office and into the hallway.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Anderson yelled at him.
“It means that once you leave this town in the dust, she will come back. She hasn’t run off; she is letting you leave without having to watch you leave her behind,” Rafferty turned and said.
“I was not leaving her behind!” Anderson yelled.
“Yes, you were. You were leaving, and she was never going to follow!” Rafferty yelled back as he went down the stairs to the street level.
Following, Anderson knew Rafferty was right. They had all been right. Ruth had told him on day one of their relationship and even at his parents’ house that she was staying here. There was nothing that would make her move, not even him. He had been the one who couldn’t believe it.
As Rafferty stomped off to his pickup, Anderson went back into the office. The silence was deafening. He missed her constant typing, missed her sitting behind her desk. He missed everything about her.
Going into his office, he picked up the files he had thrown on the floor earlier. He put them back on his desk and sat in his chair, trying not to look over at her empty chair. He had two weeks to look at that empty chair.
When the bell tinkled over the door, he jumped out of his chair and rushed to the door, only to stop when he saw Tess Thorn walk into the room. She lived next door, right next to Ruth.
“Was there a break-in? Is Ruth okay?” Tess indicated towards the broken door.
“No, I did that. She left.”